Ray Carpenter-Smith (3 Jun 1946 - 19 Sep 2023)

GOODBYE RAY. HAVE FOND MEMORIES

Remembered with love, affection and many happy memories. Farewell, dear friend.

Dave and "The Meerkat"

Well done, Ray, a life well lived, giving pleasure to all who knew you, and most of all giving 35 years of happy marriage to your lovely Sally-Anne.

Gerard and Stephanie

In Loving Memory - it's 5 o'clock somewhere !

All the VanderPol /Richardson clan

From: the VanderPol & Richardson Families

Ray will be sorely missed by all his family & friends Stateside.

Heart-felt sympathies from afar to Sally-Ann and close family/friends at home.

Our guitars will forever be serenading you in memory of our many enjoyable hours spent socialising at home in Nova Road; and your always refreshing escapades at the Nursery in the company of your Cohort-in-Chief.

Rest in Peace Ray

Marlene, Doug, and all the Family. xx

In Loving Memory

From: the Wickington family
xx

Always a good friend and support, Ray will be greatly missed not only by his wife & family but also by his many friends on both sides of the Pond.
Many fond memories retained, from initial meeting with Stateside Management 24 years ago, through progression to becoming very close friends. Without you & Sally-Ann our integration into the North American ways would have been all the more difficult - whether advice on wildlife (snakes, spiders & of course alligators) or the more mundane areas of Facilities Management. Plus the icing on the cake of being welcomed into the special events hosted at Nova Road.

Rest in peace our friend

Pat, Paul, Sam & James. xxx

Hola,
We first met Ray in the mid 1990’s in Florida where Ray and Sally-Ann had a Management Company looking after holiday villas. He could be seen riding around on his motor mower and had a joke and a laugh with everyone.
We have fond memories and there are lots of stories we can tell.
One afternoon, we were sitting around our pool and watched Angel, one of Ray’s workers, clean the pool deck of the next-door property. We told Ray about the good job that he had done. Ray exploded ‘Your neighbours don’t pay me for cleaning their pool – Angel should have been cleaning your pool deck’.
Ray liked Cava, as we do, and we often got together for a drink or three. On one occasion Ray was opening a bottle in his kitchen and after removing the protective wire over the cork, he went for the glasses. Suddenly there was a different kind explosion, this time from the bottle. The cork had flown out, straight through the glass lighting over the kitchen bar leaving shattered glass splinters everywhere.
Another time we had our two granddaughters staying with us for their school half term holiday. Ray arranged to take them, and us, out on Lake Toho on his and John’s boat. We arrived at the lake and waited in the car park. After a while, the explosion came from Amy, our eldest granddaughter. ‘Grandma, how much longer are we going to wait here for Ray’? Soon, all was well. Ray arrived in his pick-up truck towing a trailer with his boat. Now, a very excited Amy, ‘Grandma, you didn’t tell me it was a speed boat’. We had a lovely day on the lake and both girls had a turn to drive the boat.
We will miss you, Ray, and our thoughts are also with Sally-Ann.
Hasta la vista
Lots of love from us both,
Ann and John

To Our Dear Friend Ray,
There are no words or even music that comes close to describing how much we love and will miss you. Sipping champers and sharing Krispy Kreme’s for “fun in de sun” on many beautiful boat days, playing guitar, keyboard and crooning on the karaoke together with next door’s hunky horse trainer, splashing around in many impromptu pool parties, driving the ‘Aminal’ and riding in your Ford trucks, gleefully asking waiters, “do ‘ya do crisps?!” and ordering double fries, steak with blue cheese crumbles and ice cream with ‘carmel’ sauce, sharing many hilarious jokes washed down with a shot or two of Fireball whisky… such times shaped our lives and taught us the true meaning of fun, friendship, generosity and love. Thank you for these and the other countless happy memories we shared together, which will live forever in our hearts. We will always remember the cheeky and cheerful twinkle in your eyes. With all our love, always, Joanne, Vanessa, Ian & Wendy xxxx

To our dear friend Ray, it’s time for Madeline and I to say goodbye,but we will never forget you. Your smiling face,so many jokes, and practical jokes which will stay in our memories. What will I do now you have taken your guitar and keyboard skills with you.
You will always be in our thoughts and hearts.
Bye Big Boy.
Love Madeline & John x